# Quito: map, what to do and when to go

Quito is visited for its colonial center of gilded churches and the volcanoes around it, at 2,850 m of altitude. Capital of Ecuador, it sits almost on the line that gives the country its name.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Quito: can you ride the TelefériQo on arrival day?** It's not a good idea: the TelefériQo climbs to 3,945 m, at Cruz Loma, about a thousand meters above the city, and Quito's 2,850 m already weighs on anyone coming from sea level.
- **Quito: what's the currency, and which bills should you bring?** The currency has been the US dollar since January 2000, so there's no exchange to do.
- **Quito: what's the climate like through the year?** In Quito the temperature stays between 9°C and 21°C all year round, and what changes is the rain.

## Historic center, slowly
Start at 9am at Plaza Grande; if it's a Monday, stay for the changing of the presidential guard, around 11am.
- Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
- Conjunto de San Francisco
- Basílica del Voto Nacional

## Height, art and the north
Go up the TelefériQo right at opening, while the sky is still clear, and walk no more than 40 minutes along the Cruz Loma ridge (3,945 m).
- TelefériQo
- Capilla del Hombre and Museo Guayasamín

## The equator line and the lookout
Leave early for the Mitad del Mundo, about 26 km to the north (40 to 60 minutes by car), and visit the 1982 monument and the Intiñán museum, right next door; the zero parallel measured by GPS runs about 240 m north of the monument.
- Plaza Grande (Plaza de la Independencia)
- El Panecillo and the Virgen de Quito
- Mitad del Mundo
- National Museum of Ecuador and Parque Guangüiltagua

## Plaza Grande (Plaza de la Independencia)
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-plaza-grande
Pichincha
The country's political center since 1534, surrounded by the Palacio de Carondelet (the Presidency's seat), the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace and City Hall. The changing of the presidential guard happens on Monday mornings, around 11am, with the Guarda de Granaderos de Tarqui.
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## Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-iglesia-de-la-compania-de-jesus
Quito · Up to half an hour
Jesuit baroque built over 160 years, from 1605 to 1765, with a carved volcanic-stone façade and an interior entirely covered in gold leaf. Photography inside is forbidden; admission is paid and the line usually moves quickly.
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## Conjunto de San Francisco
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-conjunto-de-san-francisco
Quito
The largest colonial religious complex in the Americas: over 3 hectares, begun around 1536 on the site of an Inca palace. It holds Bernardo de Legarda's Virgen de Quito (1734), the winged virgin that served as the model for the statue on El Panecillo.
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## Basílica del Voto Nacional
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-basilica-del-voto-nacional
Quito · Up to half an hour
Neo-Gothic, begun in 1892 and never formally finished, with towers about 115 m tall. The gargoyles were replaced with Ecuadorian wildlife: Galápagos tortoises, iguanas, armadillos, condors. Climbing to the towers requires wooden ladders and open walkways; admission is around US$2 for foreigners (2026).
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## El Panecillo and the Virgen de Quito
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-el-panecillo
Quito
A 3,016 m hill that divides the center from the south, crowned since 1975 by a 41 m winged aluminum virgin, assembled from about 7,000 pieces by the Spaniard Agustín de la Herrán Matorras. Go up by taxi or tourist bus; the access stairways on foot have a history of muggings.
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## TelefériQo
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-teleferiqo
A cable car opened in 2005 that climbs from 2,950 m to Cruz Loma, at 3,945 m, in about 18 minutes. From the top a trail leads to the summit of Rucu Pichincha (4,698 m), 5 to 6 hours round trip, only advisable after two or three days of acclimatization.
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## Calle La Ronda
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-calle-la-ronda
Quito
The Juan de Dios Morales street, one of the oldest stretches in the city, restored between 2006 and 2008. Colorful houses with balconies, artisan workshops, live music and canelazo and empanadas de viento stalls from late afternoon on.
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## Capilla del Hombre and Museo Guayasamín
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-capilla-del-hombre
A complex in Bellavista dedicated to Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919–1999), Ecuador's best-known painter. The chapel, opened in 2002 after the artist's death, holds the large panels on violence in Latin America; the house-museum next door keeps his personal collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art.
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## Mitad del Mundo
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-mitad-del-mundo
A complex in San Antonio de Pichincha, about 26 km north of downtown, with a 30 m monument built between 1979 and 1982 over the line calculated by the 1736 mission. GPS shows that the zero parallel actually runs about 240 m north of the monument. Next door is the Intiñán museum, which advertises itself as the true line, but the measurement doesn't put it exactly on the equator either.
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## National Museum of Ecuador and Parque Guangüiltagua
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/quito/#g-lugar-museo-nacional-do-equador
Up to half an hour
The museum, in the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, brings together 5,000 years of Andean ceramics and the gold sun mask of La Tolita, the country's symbol. A few kilometers away, Parque Metropolitano Guangüiltagua has about 570 hectares of eucalyptus and trails and is one of the largest urban parks in South America.
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**Quito: can you ride the TelefériQo on arrival day?**
It's not a good idea: the TelefériQo climbs to 3,945 m, at Cruz Loma, about a thousand meters above the city, and Quito's 2,850 m already weighs on anyone coming from sea level. Spend the first 24 to 48 hours at a slow pace, drink water, eat light and save the cable car for the second day.

**Quito: what's the currency, and which bills should you bring?**
The currency has been the US dollar since January 2000, so there's no exchange to do. Bring small bills and 25- and 50-cent coins, including the Ecuadorian ones, which circulate alongside the American ones, because almost nobody breaks US$50 or $100 bills, and many shops refuse even a 20 in the morning.

**Quito: what's the climate like through the year?**
In Quito the temperature stays between 9°C and 21°C all year round, and what changes is the rain. The dry season runs from June to September, with clearer skies and cold nights; the rainy season runs from October to May, peaking in April, with downpours from mid-afternoon on.

**Quito: do you need to greet people when entering a shop?**
Yes: a “good morning” or “good day” when entering a shop, elevator, bus or office is mandatory, and getting straight to the point is read as rude.

**Quito: what's the real risk for visitors?**
The real risk is street theft, higher than it was ten years ago and concentrated where there are tourists and few people around. Ecuador's security crisis is concentrated in the coastal cities, and Quito is much calmer than they are.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 2 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/quito/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/quito/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/quito.md